Swipe to navigate through the chapters of this book

Voter Orientations

Over the course of the previous chapters it has become clear that the interaction between voters, parties and electoral institutions is a complex one. An election outcome can be understood from different perspectives. From one perspective, it can be seen in terms of what voters do — how they evaluate parties and candidates. Alternatively it can be seen in terms of what parties do — how they choose policies, exercise leadership and strategically position themselves. Yet again, it can be seen in terms of the institutional setting in which voters and parties interact. So an election outcome is the result of a dynamic interaction between voters, parties and institutions. We have already discussed parties and institutions in earlier chapters. In this chapter we will consider voters.